Over the last ten years or so, video games have provided us with deeply moving single-player stories. But recently, solo tabletop role-playing games (TTRPGs) have shown that traditional pen and paper RPGs can be just as, if not more, emotionally stirring.
Typically, tabletop RPGs have been a way for friends to gather, make jokes, and slay some monsters. Sure, the older hack-and-slash games occasionally offered deep emotional moments, especially with the narrative-driven RPG boom in the 90s. Today’s game designers, however, are crafting experiences that are more solitary and introspective, capturing the meditative essence of playing a TTRPG alone.
Here are a few games that really dig deep, emotionally speaking, leaving you to piece yourself back together afterward.
Take “Midnight Melodies,” a creation by an award-winning game designer who is also a talented architect and musician. This game plunges you into the role of a jazz pianist. As fate would have it, you realize that the Grim Reaper cannot claim your soul. Instead of fleeing from Death, you find yourself taken under its wing within the Department of Unauthorized Deaths. Each night, after your jazz bar gig, you tackle the mysteries surrounding someone’s untimely end, composing a song to report your findings to the Grim Reaper.
Other solo adventures by this creator include the ghost-hunting game “Wraithhound,” the 2023 CRiT Award-winning “Not A Demon,” and “Insurgent,” which can be played solo or with a group and involves overthrowing a tyrannical regime.
“Galatea,” inspired by the Greek myth of a statue brought to life, delves into the world of a lonely and tormented artist who creates the perfect piece of art—you. Your life is bound by the necessity to remain flawless. This game masterfully explores themes of co-dependency and the crushing burden of others’ expectations. Utilizing the Wretched & Alone system, this solo RPG instills tension through the instability of a wooden block tower as the narrative unfolds. It vividly reflects the article’s theme by referencing Kitsugi, the Japanese art of mending pottery with gold, on its cover.
S. Kaiya’s repertoire includes the “Untitled Moth Game,” where players engage with unkeepable promises, and “you, beyond the pale,” a daily ritual game that lets you embody a unique monster observing human life.
Then there’s momatoes, an internationally acclaimed designer whose games feel like art pieces. As a graphic designer, momatoes’s unique touch shines in both visual and mechanical aspects. A fine example is “Farewell, Goodnight,” a game available for free wherein dice rolls reveal the harsh realities of memory loss, set against the backdrop of electroshock therapy in a mid-century psychiatric hospital.
For those seeking a more technical engagement, “The Magus” offers a mechanically robust experience. In this game, you become a wizard craving arcane dominance. Unlike typical journaling games, “The Magus” involves intricate game mechanics—dice rolls capture your fluctuations in control, power accumulation, and the scars you bear. Yet, fundamentally, it emphasizes human connections, the ties that tether you to your humanity amidst your perilous quest for all-powerful knowledge. Although its first edition is up for sale, the eagerly awaited second edition can now be pre-ordered.
